What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I typically stay at Holiday Inns, and when I arrive in the room, it is COLD, so I have to turn the thermostat up a couple of degrees to turn the fan/air conditioning off. I have no issues putting on a sweater, but I am not a fan of cold rooms when I'm traveling, since I don't typically have my warm clothes with me. 

Something very unusual happened on my reading lists. I typically have an e-book and an audiobook on the go at the same time. BOTH books I'm currently reading are related to a ...

OH MY ---- shipping to Canada. I didn't even think of that, as some companies won't ship to Canada and vice versa because of high shipping costs. Isn't that just the silliest thing, considering we are next-door neighbors? 

I have found a solution: an account with a cross-border shipping company. If I want something from the US and the shipping is high, I send it to my "address" in the US. Then I pay about $10 to have it shipped from the warehouse to Canada, and that warehouse is about a ten-minute drive from my house. 

I recently ...

I think travel and age are creeping up on me. I would like to be totally in denial, but I guess I can't deny any longer. I was so tired yesterday, and I think I had two naps. That's OK. The travel of the last three weeks, the carrying of heavy luggage, setting up machines, traveling in different time zones -- it's getting harder and harder! 

While I did tidy everything off the floor in Studio B, I did NOT get everything done. I simply moved some of it onto a table so it was easier to access ...

I'm home, and the girls are happy! 

As far as travel days go, it was pretty uneventful, which is exactly how I like them. The only issue was getting all that luggage home. I love traveling light, and so when I have three suitcases and two carry-on items, that is a LOT to manage. Thank goodness for carts at the airport. 

I got everything packed into the three suitcases and my backpack, except for a few things which went into the handy-dandy tote bag that I had with me. 

Packed and ready to roll!

I'm exhausted this morning! I seemed exhausted all day until it was time to sleep! I just woke up - the blog is going to be late!!!

Travel days are long, and even though yesterday was a short travel day, we lost three hours due to the time change. It was easy - we got up, caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport. We hung out at the lounge for a bit, and then I suggested we go down to the gate to try something new. 

DH is always grumbling about having to stand in the Zone 2 boarding lane ...

Travel days are so much fun! OK -- I know I shouldn't complain, and I'm not because I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel. I would say that half of the travel I do wouldn't be necessary if my family lived close, but we are all over the country, and hence, travel is required. For those of you with family within driving distance? You are lucky! 

Anyway -- the first thing was to get the girls walked and finish tidying up stuff around the house. Can you believe I even vacuumed quickly before I left? It's ...

THANKS to all who gave me great suggestions about the witty comments. I will reread them and memorize them because they were great!!! You are the best, and thanks for putting up with my little tirade yesterday!

And yes -- it was just a question of time before I approached the CJPA (Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association) to help. I love helping out, and used to help a lot with the quilt guilds I belonged to in the past. Then, when it became too political and cliquish for my liking, I stepped away, and I don't regret that decision. 

Thankfully, there ...

I will be the first to admit that there are days when I should be enrolled in anger management training. However, I will say that it's not because of what I do - it's what others do to me. Within the last two weeks, I received SIX requests for information on my personal travel plans from the same person. I'm past the point of caring if anyone else knows.  

I asked why they needed to know that information, and the answer I got was lame. I decided (spitefully—I admit it) that I wasn't going to provide ...

After getting some feedback from people, I'm glad M is using the trim from her dress for the wedding. Someone else dismantled their lace wedding hat, so her daughter could use it to wrap her bouquet! It was worth the four hours to take it apart!

To answer the question about the community project quilts, the group of 11 I'm working on is NOT among the ones Diane made. Someone did me a favor and picked up a bunch of scraps I was using to make scrap quilts for more community project quilts. She was looking for scraps ...

Should I say "be careful what you wish for?" We went from winter to high summer overnight! Yesterday was a blistering hot day with lots of sun! What a change, and I think we have heat today and tomorrow, and then back to mid-teens! That's OK -- it's nice to walk around in shorts and sweat!

It was an interesting day, and for some reason, I decided it was important to spend time gardening, which was NOT on my to-do list. But that's OK. It's stuff that needed to be done. 

First, let me give you an ...

Happy Mother's Day

I must say, it feels great to get back to sewing, and, well, I just picked a "random" project to work on. Actually, it's on my Visual To-Do list under UFO, so I'm allowed to work on it! I had picked five projects under the UFO category, and my plan is to finish them all this year. They are in various states of completion. 

When I first started the sew-along quilts, in year two (2004), we did something different. Instead of choosing one large quilt, we picked two small quilts from a four-season collection ...

I think I'm in big trouble, and I need medical attention. Not mental health medical attention, but physical. My leg has been bothering me a lot, and it's time I did something about it. I could barely walk yesterday - at least without pain, and that is affecting my good leg, so there is no time to waste. What do I suspect is the issue? Well, where do I start? Issues with the PCL, which is a tendon on the back of the knee, and the sciatic nerves.  

Don't you love how I'm self-diagnosing? I'll go ...

I'm so glad to hear that I am not alone in getting books. And Sharon mentioned something extremely important yesterday. So many books are no longer relevant because technology has changed, and the information in the books is so outdated that no one wants it. The only thing to do is to put it in the recycling bin. And that is hard. I have a few things around here that should go in the recycling bin, but I'm not there yet, either. 

However, I spent quite a bit of time in Studio B yesterday, and I learned a ...

OH—after reading the comments this morning, I don't think I'm worthy of decluttering the books! Ever since I was little, my mom taught us that books are precious. And YES - they are, but that doesn't mean you need to own all of them. Or if you buy something, you don't need to keep it! ACK!! I'm in big trouble. 

We had two great presentations in the morning, and I can share a little bit of what I've been working on. One of my goals for 2026 is to finish Sylvia's Bridal Sampler ...

Thanks everyone for your comments! I must go back and digest them! There's a lot to be said about traveling light, but if you have or want a decluttered environment at home, it's a lot easier to "declutter" what you take on vacation. BUT --- and the airlines tell you this repeatedly -- DO NOT check your medications, important papers, laptops --- basically anything that cannot be easily replaced --- do NOT check it. Clothes? You can buy clothes anywhere, but you can't easily renew a prescription. 

And not having checked luggage gives you 100% flexibility to change flights (if yours ...

OH --- I had the blog already to go and then forgot to press PUBLISH!!!

OH MY --- I'm totally obsessed with making up these presentations. When people are interested, I'm prepared to go to the ends of the Earth to find the information. I spend tons of time researching stuff for my groups and even if they don't appreciate it, (I'm sure most of them do!), I still learn a ton of stuff by finding the information. 

I just discovered something else that I need for my research. I'll share it all next week! 

Did anyone ...

I received some shocking news yesterday while I was at the gym, and big changes are coming for me! OK -- I'm exaggerating, but for me, it will be a big change. I will not be like my parents -- I will embrace the change, although it's very upsetting. What happened? 

I learned that Joseph, the most amazing spin class instructor, was LET GO!!! No one seems to know why, and I don't have his contact information, but I'm going to try to find it so I can reach out to him. I'm also going to write ...

Oh my --- What a crazy day, but it was a great day!! Three things went off without a hitch! 

I was up early and had those suitcases loaded in the car - the girls were NOT happy that I was leaving without taking them for a walk. More on that in a bit. 

The drive was great even though there was a lot of traffic. A lot of truck traffic, but no accidents, so that was a bonus. I didn't have time for accidents or major slowdowns. 

The Thames Valley Quilt Guild is a great group of people, and OH ...

I'm home, but it might have been faster to walk! OK -- I'm kidding, but there were a few hiccups along the way. 

As I lay in bed the night before, I contemplated the issue with my mom. Do I leave it and deal with it next time? Should I try to talk to her healthcare workers and have them broach the subject with her? Do I ask my aunt to deal with it? I decided to be a big girl and address it with both of them during my short morning visit before I left for the airport ...

LOL --- communal sleeping, as in at a retreat, is not for everyone. I have very few issues, although I like it when my roommates are quiet! Even sleeping in my own bed doesn't preclude me from getting a good night's sleep. The night before, I slept like a log. Last night? I was tired at 8 PM, but by the time I got into bed, I was wide awake and couldn't fall asleep. Sigh......

Now that I'm back home and have access to a sewing machine, the big question is where to start? I decided to ...